A Fatal Mistake May Mean Death for Innocent Patients

A recent outbreak of disease in the Forsyth Medical Center has forced 18 families to potentially deal with a rare but fatal degenerative brain disorder. The disease, known as the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, affects one in 1 million patients worldwide annually, or about 300 Americans a year, and has no known cause or treatment. Symptoms often don't appear for year, and even decades. Unfortunately, death typically occurs within a few weeks after the onset of symptoms.

Brain infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob

The disease is spread by iatrogenic and variant exposure. Iatrogenic exposure is illness caused by medical examination or treatment, and the risks include ontaminated surgical instruments, dura mater transplant, corneal transplant and human growth hormone. Variant risks include eating contaminated beef or being exposed to contaminated blood or a blood plasma transfusion.

The outbreak of Creutzfeldt-Jakob began with a neurosurgical procedure on a patient that was later confirmed to have the disease. The other 18 neurosurgical patients were all exposed within about 20 days of the first procedure. The exposure occurred because the instruments used in the surgery were sterilized in the standard way, but did not receive the enhanced sterilization process that is necessary for Creutzfedlt-Jakob.

The disease can remain on equipment that is not properly sterilized. This was an oversight on behalf of the Center. There are only a few laboratories across the United States that test for this disease, so this makes it even more difficult for the patients who potentially contracted it.  Jeff Lindsay, the hospital’s president, said “any exposure is simply unacceptable.”

The reason behind this outbreak occurred is rather difficult to fathom. Patients go to hospitals and special doctors expecting their needs to be taken care of, and not contracting a more serious and fatal illness. Other reports of malpractice and haphazard procedures that have caused outbreaks of disease in patients have come up recently and I think it brings into question if hospitals and public health services are really doing all they can to protect the patient. I wonder how these families are planning on responding to the exposure of disease.

This relates to our work with epidemic disease in terms of germ contraction through simple things such as hand washing. Although this is on a much larger scale of sterilization and is about a very complicated disease, it still holds the same basic idea of being healthy. One doctors unintentional mistake can cause fatal problems for other people.

Not all of the 18 cases have been confirmed, but the fact that it is even a concern is rather unsettling. The Center is currently under quarantine until the situation is resolved.  

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